


Strategic Planning and Directed Espionage (S.P.A.D.E.)

by MoonlightMav



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst and Romance, Espionage, Eventual Romance, F/M, Undercover, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29860722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlightMav/pseuds/MoonlightMav
Summary: Strategic Planning and Directed Espionage is a private organization that catches criminals too powerful to be caught by regular law enforcement. Their agents go undercover to gather sufficient evidence to lock up even those with the most expensive lawyers. Agent Rivers is currently their best field agent, and one particular crime syndicate is starting to figure that out. Lately their missions haven’t been running smoothly and it’s happened too often to simply be accidents. Someone is trying to eliminate S.P.A.D.E., starting with Agent Rivers.





	1. "How About a Dance?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strategic Planning and Directed Espionage is a private organization that catches criminals too powerful to be caught by regular law enforcement. Their agents go undercover to gather sufficient evidence to lock up even those with the most expensive lawyers. 
> 
> Agent Rivers is one of their best field agents and there are very few times when something catches her off-guard. Tonight might be one of those times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,125
> 
> Includes: undercover, dancing, bodyguards, fighting, surveillance

**(I arranged the moodboard but only the middle photo is mine. The rest of the photos are from Pinterest.)**

She checked her watch while running along the side streets. 

_I should’ve been there ten minutes ago, the sun has almost set._

“Agent Rivers, where are you?” a voice spoke in her earpiece, “Carmichael just received the flash drive.”

“I’m almost there,” she removed her black shirt, letting an elegant red dress unfold from underneath, covering her combat pants. This wouldn’t be the first time she had to change while running. “I just got held up at the previous mission. I’ll be there in three minutes at most,” she let her hair down in a way that hides her earpiece.

“Copy that,” came the reply.

Fortunately Agent Myles is leading this mission; a different Case Officer might be stricter with punctuality. Barely slowing down, she climbed a tree and unslung her backpack from her shoulders, taking out a purse and a pair of heels. She preferred her boots during missions, but she didn’t always get to decide.

Her water-resistant digital wristwatch looked more “practical hiker” than “rich socialite”, so she replaced it with a thin silver bracelet. Pushing away some leaves and branches, she found the hollow in the trunk of the tree and left her backpack inside to be picked up by her or another agent later.

She checked the ground for passers-by before climbing down and brushing off her dress. The black stilettos weren’t exactly made for running, but she put them on and moved as fast as they enabled her.

A few moments later she could already see the mansion where the party is being held; Pint Lounge is launching a new line of drinks and Francis Carmichael is attending. That flash drive is evidence that he’s been stealing intellectual property from other companies, and tonight might be their only chance of getting it.

She reached the mansion and entered through a side door just as they planned. Live music was playing and there were waiters carrying around trays of drinks; the air smelled of perfume and cocktails. 

“I’m in,” she said in a low voice. 

“Yes, I see you,” replied Agent Myles from her surveillance point, “The flash drive is in the left inside pocket of his coat. Retrieve it as soon as possible. We can’t afford to lose any more time.”

“Copy that,” she replied, silently cursing herself for being late. She blamed the politician and his bodyguards from the last mission. The feeling that she had missed something back there was still nagging at the back of her mind, but there was no time to think about that yet; she had another mission to do.

She spotted Carmichael and remembered something, “Won’t the flash drive be encrypted?” she asked Agent Myles, “How long would it take to access the files?”

“Not too long. Agent Knight is back; he’s still our best cryptanalyst. We just need you to retrieve the flash drive and Carmichael is as good as jailed.”

She abruptly stopped walking. For a moment she could feel her heartbeat and it was harder to breathe.

_Lucas is back._

“…Agent Rivers?”

“Yes, copy that. Not a problem,” she blinked and continued towards the bar, trying to keep her voice normal, “I didn’t know Agent Knight had returned.”

“He just flew in yesterday, I heard he’ll be working in our sector again.”

“Right,” she said, reminding herself to focus on the mission, “I see Carmichael, I’m approaching.”

She went to the bar a few feet away from Francis and set down her purse. “Ugh, it’s so hard to find good daiquiri these days,” she said in a haughty voice after taking a sip of the drink she ordered.

Francis looked up from his own drink and smiled, “A lady who knows her drinks well is hard to find too,” he walked over to her.

She looked at him like she was trying to remember who he is, “Mr. Carmichael, I presume?”

“Francis, please. No need to be so formal,” he took a sip from his brandy glass.

“I _am_ speaking to the owner of the third-largest wine vineyard in the country,” she returned his smile.

“And to whom do I have the honor of speaking?” Francis held out his hand.

“Jasmine Harrington,” she took the offered handshake, “I’m only here because my friend didn’t want to go alone.”

“In that case, I would have to thank your friend,” he brushed his lips lightly on the back of her hand.

“Well, aren’t you quite the charmer, Mr. Carmichael?” she moved closer to him.

“Do I have to name a bottle of wine after you for you to call me Francis? Because I can do that.”

She laughed sweetly and turned to look at the live band which had started playing a new song, “Now this is good dancing music.”

“You like jazz music too? You’re getting more interesting.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Francis,” she tilted her head and smiled.

His smile widened. “How about a dance?” he asked, setting down his drink and offering his hand.

She accepted it and set down her own drink, “It would be my pleasure.”

They joined the small group of people on the dance floor, Francis’ hand on her waist and the other holding her hand. They moved to the beat of the tango. 

“You’re a surprisingly good dancer,” she said, sounding impressed.

Francis spun her outward and toward him again, “Stay a while longer and I might just surprise you more.”

She pressed closer to him and whispered, “Oh, I don’t doubt that.” She lowered her eyes, “Unfortunately, I have an appointment later tonight. But maybe I can see you again?” she looked at him hopefully.

Francis looked disappointed, “Ah, that is unfortunate. When do you have to leave?”

She took his hand and looked at his watch, “Now, I’m afraid.” Stepping away from him, she smiled, “I’ll call you.”

“You don’t have my number,” he looked puzzled.

“The whole country knows who you are, Mr. Carmichael,” she started walking away, “I’ll find a way to contact you,” she said over her shoulder and winked.

“I’ll be waiting,” he called after her.

Francis returned to the bar; he was considering if he should go after her and give her one of his calling cards. He checked his pockets for them, and noticed something missing. Suddenly, he was feeling all the brandy he’d had. He was starting to panic and wondered if he dropped it on the dance floor somehow. He was about to go back there and check when he realized what must have happened; he had been played for a fool.

He took out his phone and called the head of his security; he always had them around whenever he’s out in public. “The flash drive was stolen,” he said through gritted teeth as soon as his call was answered. “The woman in the red dress, she went outside to the garden. Find her!” He hung up and prepared to leave. If that flash drive got away from him completely, he would have to disappear quick.

She was halfway through the garden when she heard them. Sounds of rapid footsteps, and a shout, “There she is!” 

Making sure the flash drive is safe in the concealed pocket of her dress, she kicked off her heels and ran for the stairs. _Always with the bodyguards,_ she almost rolled her eyes. They weren’t even decent. None of their agents would have made the mistake of alerting the target they’re trying to capture. 

She ran up the stairs two at a time.

Their Scouts had surveyed the place days before and created a map for them to memorize; she knew exactly where she was going. She reached the second-floor hallway and hid in the walk-in closet, pressing her ear against the door. There were probably three or four of them, but it was hard to tell in such a tight space where sound tended to echo.

She listened. One… two… 

She slammed open the closet door and heard a loud grunt, followed by the sound of a body dropping heavily to the floor. She stepped out into the long dim hallway and saw one of the men unconscious with a bloody nose. The other three were quickly recovering from the shock; the nearest one drew out a knife.

She coiled the strap of her purse around her hand and used it like a whip to hit his temple. He staggered and fell against the wall but remained conscious. She quickly stepped forward and sprained his wrist, making him cry out and drop the knife. She kicked it away and heard it slide to the other end of the hall, disappearing into the darkness. She tripped the man’s leg from under him and pushed him toward his companions who jumped away. She launched herself toward them and landed a punch, using her momentum to put all her weight into it. She felt her knuckles hit a jaw and one of the men stumbled backward.

He stubbornly remained standing so she stepped forward and flipped him over her shoulder. The last one was staring at her with wide eyes and shakily raised his fists. She sidestepped and used her purse to whip him on the side of his head, he fell immediately. She checked if any of them were still conscious; the one with the sprained wrist was still groaning on the floor. She knelt down and punched his eye to knock him out.

“I’m on my way there,” she spoke in her earpiece as she made her way to their rendezvous point, “Cleaners needed at the second-floor hallway. And the heels are somewhere in the garden.”

“Acknowledged,” Agent Myles replied, “Cleaners are on their way. And we got Carmichael.”

She reached the fourth floor. She opened the double doors of the library and found the other agents waiting for her, Agent Myles looked up from her surveillance monitor. 

Francis Carmichael was handcuffed and on his knees, with an agent holding him on each arm. She approached Agent Myles at the table and promptly gave her the flash drive.

“Nice work as always, Agent Rivers,” Agent Myles beamed, her long brown hair tied up in a bun as she always did during missions.

She gave a polite nod and returned the smile. That was the thing with Bianca Myles, she always made sure her team felt appreciated. She’s the one that the agents always looked forward to working with.

“Nate caught up to him when he stole a security guard’s gun and took him hostage while trying to escape. That would be enough to detain him for at least 24 hours,” Agent Katherine Lee said, adjusting her grip on Francis’ arm.

“Yep, I’ve never seen a more cowardly display,” added Agent Nathaniel Dalton on the other side of Francis, “Luckily Katie and I were there,” he grinned and twirled the set of keys around his finger and almost dropped them.

“Idiot,” Katie laughed. 

The double doors flew open noisily, startling all of them. 

“Sorry, sorry,” the agent who stumbled in closed the doors clumsily while trying not to drop the things he was carrying. His dark hair was sticking up in places like he ran around outside while it was windy. “I think I got all of them—” his surprised eyes met hers. He stood up straight.

“Natasha— Agent Rivers, here’s your backpack,” he hesitantly held it up. “The heels are inside.”

“What’s he doing in the field?” Natasha Rivers turned to Bianca, trying to keep her tone even.

“Miss Morgan apparently sent him with the Cleaners, I just found out a few minutes ago,” she replied, starting to put away her surveillance kit.

Francis Carmichael finally found his voice, “I didn’t think I would see you so soon, _Ms. Harrington_ ,” he said to Natasha mockingly. “Would you like another dance?” he sneered despite his broken lip.

Natasha looked at him, “I don’t like cowards.” She strode towards the doors and grabbed her backpack from Lucas, who had lowered his gaze to the floor.

“You’re not going back to HQ with us?” Bianca asked.

“No,” Natasha shut the doors behind her.

“Okay,” Bianca said to the rest of her team, “Agent Lee and I will take Carmichael to the car. Agents Dalton and Knight, you meet up with the other Cleaners and join us in fifteen minutes.”

“Aye aye, captain,” said Nate cheerily, letting Bianca take his place beside Carmichael.

As they were watching Carmichael be taken away, Nate went up to Lucas. “I’m sure she was referring to Carmichael,” he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Lucas tried to ignore the stinging in his chest. “It’s not like I was expecting a warm welcome anyway,” he sighed.

They left the library to meet with the others. 


	2. “I Thought I Was Going to Get Killed Beside a Bowl of Oatmeal.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Knight has returned to the S.P.A.D.E. headquarters in his home country after being stationed abroad for a long while, and he discovers that certain things had changed during his absence. 
> 
> He wants to be a field agent, which means he would have to train under Agent Rivers. He could only hope she would want to train him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,255
> 
> Includes: punching, light sparring, determined and nervous boy

**(I arranged the moodboard but only the middle photo is mine. The rest of the photos are from Pinterest.)**

Lucas was working on decoding the flash drive at his desk. He was surprised that he had a workspace immediately after having just arrived, but apparently they had fewer agents now, so there were a lot of vacant spaces. 

He was waiting for the files to be extracted before he could start decoding them, and it looked like it was going to take a few minutes at least. With nothing else to do for the moment, he couldn’t help but think back to the mission they’d just finished. Seeing Natasha again. He thought he would be prepared; he _chose_ to go back after all. He was the one who volunteered to go with the Cleaners on the mission.

But the way Natasha looked at him, he couldn’t have prepared for that. Of course he wasn’t expecting to be greeted happily, he told Nate as much. He didn’t know what he was expecting. A smile, maybe? He would’ve been okay with a hello. 

If he allowed himself to admit it, what he was really hoping for was a conversation, a chance to make things better. That’s why he pestered Miss Morgan to let him out on the field. He heard Natasha was going to be there and he wanted to make a good impression by being helpful on his first day back. But the moment he saw Natasha, he could barely get any words out. And she walked away from him as soon as she could.

 _“I don’t like cowards,”_ he could still hear it.

His computer beeped; the files had been extracted. He ran his hand over his face and tried to rub the tiredness from his eyes. 

He hadn’t had any sleep yet because he went straight to HQ after his 6-hour flight, but he wanted to finish the decryption tonight so he could begin training as a field agent tomorrow. Most of the agents had left already, but even though Lucas was alone in the analysts’ section, he still felt more content than he had in the last year. 

It was good to be back; it was good to be home. He stretched his arms, took a sip of his coffee, and got to work.

He woke with a start and hit his pencil holder off the table. He yawned and blinked at the person who had knocked loudly on his desk. 

“Rise and shine, Agent Knight,” Nate was grinning. 

“What time is it?” Lucas asked sleepily while picking up the pens that scattered on the floor.

“Five minutes past eight,” Nate replied, looking at his watch. “Have you been here all night?”

“Uh, yeah,” Lucas straightened up and turned on his computer screen, “I finished decrypting the files last night, but I hadn’t read through all of them. I put it up on the system so the other agents assigned on this case can take a look too.”

“Yeah I don’t understand what any of those mean,” said Nate looking at the codes on the screen. He turned back to Lucas, “And I’m not sure if there are any other agents available who can analyze those files.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas was a bit confused. Before he left, there were always three analysts who looked at case files, so they were sure not to miss anything. That was barely two years ago. “Did we lose a lot of agents?” he asked worriedly.

“Not exactly,” replied Nate, “But there are more missions to be done now than we have people. That’s why Miss Morgan agreed that you double as a field agent. Oh right,” he smacked himself on the head, “That’s why I’m here, she told me to bring you to her office so she can talk to you about it. Come on,” he turned and started walking. Lucas tried to fix himself so it didn’t look like he just woke up, and followed Nate.

Miss Morgan looked up from a file cabinet when they walked in. “Ah, Agent Knight,” she greeted them as she closed a drawer. Her well-pressed business suit was a dark blue today, and not one strand was out of place on her auburn hair that reached just below her jawline. Her eyebrows frowned above her round spectacles when she noticed Lucas wearing the same shirt from yesterday, “Didn’t you go home last night?”

“No ma’am, I wanted to finish decrypting the files from the mission,” he explained.

Miss Morgan nodded approvingly, “Agent Rivers appreciates that kind of attitude, you would be a good addition to her team.” She went back to sit behind her desk.

Lucas blinked, “Agent Rivers?” he was still a little groggy from sleep and he wondered if he was mishearing things.

“Yes,” Miss Morgan replied, “She’s our most experienced field agent and currently in charge of training the new recruits. You would be joining them starting today. Unless you want to train with a different agent—”

“No,” Lucas said, a little too loudly. He cleared his throat, “No ma’am, I would like to train with Agent Rivers.” He felt a little embarrassed but he was too glad to care.

“It’s settled then,” replied Miss Morgan, “Nate would take you to their training room and if you have any questions, you can ask him,” she gestured to Nate standing behind Lucas. Nate smiled and gave him a salute.

“Thank you, ma’am, I’ll start right away,” Lucas said and turned to the door that Nate opened for him.

“Have a great day, Miss Morgan!” waved Nate as he was closing the door.

Miss Morgan laughed lightly, “And you as well, Agent Dalton.”

“Miss Morgan is a lot nicer than our previous Head Directors,” Lucas said to Nate as they walked past the other departments, “They never would’ve asked me what I wanted.” Remembering them still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Yep,” he replied, “Miss Morgan is in charge now so things are a lot better. Nothing to be afraid of here anymore. Well, except maybe Katie when she misses her morning coffee. I accidentally spilled it once while we were in the break room, I thought I was going to get killed beside a bowl of oatmeal.” 

Lucas laughed, “You know, I didn’t realize how much I missed you and your energy while I was in Anglona.” It was true, Nate’s bright personality was contagious and Lucas never got tired talking to him.

“Who else did you miss?” Nate grinned at him knowingly.

Lucas avoided his eyes and tried to think of a joke or something, but he was never good with words. 

Nate laughed and clapped him on the back, “Don’t worry, I bet she missed you too.”

“You think so?” he looked at Nate.

“Um, I don’t actually know, I can never guess what she’s thinking,” Nate shrugged. “Maybe you can ask her when we get to the training room.”

He glared at Nate but he just smirked at him.

“Go and change into training clothes,” Nate said when they had returned to his desk, “I’ll meet you back here in 10 minutes. Training’s about to start, and I’m sure you don’t want to be late,” he said pointedly before leaving.

On the way to the training room with Nate, he thought about what Miss Morgan said, how Natasha would appreciate him on her team. 

He hoped that was true, but from how she was last night, he wasn’t sure Natasha would even appreciate being in the same room with him. Which was why his hands were getting cold and his throat felt like it was closing up. 

They hadn’t seen each other in more than a year—apart from last night and that didn’t exactly go well—and he wasn’t sure how to act.

He was so nervous he didn’t even notice they had reached the glass walls of the training room until he heard the sounds of a punching bag, or more accurately, the sound of someone really angry with a punching bag.

“Good morning, Agent Rivers,” greeted Nate cheerily as they stepped in the doorway.

Natasha stopped mid-punch and faced them, judging by the visible beads of sweat on her forehead and arms, she’d been here for a while. Her dark wavy hair was tied up in a ponytail and there were hand wraps from her wrists to her knuckles. 

“You’re early,” she said a little breathlessly, “training doesn’t start for half an hour.” 

Lucas turned to look at Nate, he made it seem like they were running late already. 

“I just wanted to deliver a message from Miss Morgan,” Nate said. “A new agent is joining our training,” he jabbed his thumb at Lucas.

Natasha frowned and looked at him, “You want to be a field agent?”

“I heard we were understaffed,” Lucas managed to say. “So I volunteered. Besides, it would be helpful to have an analyst on the field. Encrypted files can’t always be sent digitally and it would save a lot of time if you have me on location so I could start decoding immediately.” He was prepared for that, at least. He knew Natasha was going to ask.

“Come back in half an hour,” she started with the punching bag again.

“Okay, I’ll check if Katie’s already here,” Nate said and immediately left, leaving Lucas alone with Natasha.

Lucas took a deep breath; he decided this might be a good time to start. He didn’t want to wait too long because he felt like it would be more sincere if he explained immediately. 

“Actually, I…” he began. Natasha turned to look at him, waiting. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he continued. 

Natasha walked closer to him and at that moment he wished he had Nate’s confidence, or Natasha’s nerves, or even Katie’s calmness.

“What is it?” Natasha stopped about three feet away from him. 

“I was wondering if…” he said, then he noticed her eyes. Those dark hazel eyes that always seemed warm but now as cold as a stone wall. _Just say it,_ he told himself. She was looking right at him and it made it harder to think.

 _Just ask if she has time to talk later after training._ She was starting to frown and he knew she was losing patience. But he was nervous and he still so easily got lost in her eyes; more than a year in a different country hadn’t changed that. 

“I wanted to ask if…” he tried again.

She crossed her arms and he knew he wasn’t helping his chances by annoying her like this. _Go on,_ the back of his mind prompted. 

“I wanted to ask if you could give me private training lessons,” he blurted out. _What?!_

“What?” Natasha looked surprised.

“Um…” he stammered, he would have to go with it now. “Yeah, I just thought, well, the new recruits are way ahead of me in training. They’d probably beat me up pretty badly once we get to the sparring techniques. It might be better if I had more lessons,” his hands felt like he just dipped them in freezing water. He put them in his pockets in case they started to shake.

Natasha seemed to consider for a moment. “Okay, put your hands up,” she raised her own fists.

“Wha—now?” his heart started beating even faster.

“Yes,” she replied, shifting to a fighting stance, “You wanted to save time, right? And this is my only free time for the day,” she looked serious.

Lucas slowly put his hands up, relieved to see that they weren’t shaking. He tried to copy her stance and looked at her uncertainly. She suddenly stepped forward and pushed his shoulders, tripping his foot from under him at the same time. He fell to the floor with a thud.

“Reaction time is very important in the field,” Natasha said, “Get up.”

Lucas stood up despite the pain in his back; he raised his fists again. Natasha threw a punch, he jumped back. Her fist stopped an inch from his nose. 

“Move to the side, not backwards,” she stepped back and retracted her fist, “That way you’ll avoid the hit but still be near enough to hit back.”

She opened her palms, “And you don’t have to close your hands into fists all the time, open palms are more flexible and allow for grabbing,” she grabbed his shoulders and pulled down, kneeing him in the stomach. She pushed him hard and he fell on his back again. 

“You need to strengthen your legs,” she said while looking over him. “Learn to remain standing even after taking hits.”

Lucas pushed himself up while grunting. He remembered the times he had watched Natasha train. Even getting up from the floor after sparring, she still looked graceful. He knew he did not look that way now. 

The pain from his bruises forming must’ve shown on his face despite his efforts, because Natasha said, “That’s enough for now, come back with the others later,” she turned away from him and went to her things. 

“No no,” he put his hands up again, “I can still do this,” he wanted to show her he was determined, that he wasn’t afraid to continue.

Natasha looked at him and raised her eyebrows, “A good field agent knows when to retreat to fight another day. A dead agent is a useless agent. Take a break and make sure you’re in shape to join the new recruits,” she got a small towel from the pull-up bar and walked to the door, wiping her forehead as she went.


	3. “It’s Time You Learn About the Prediction.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lucas begins his training, the others find out new information from an old case that could explain why their missions haven’t been running smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,055
> 
> Includes: sparring, attack prediction

**(I arranged the moodboard but only the middle photo is mine. The rest of the photos are from Pinterest.)**

Lucas was at the table in the break room, holding an ice pack to his stomach. “Why did you do that?” he asked Nate sitting across from him.

“Do what?” Nate asked back through a mouthful of potato chips.

“You made me hurry up so we could get there before anyone else arrived, and you intentionally left me alone with Natasha,” he accused.

Nate took a big gulp from his soda can before answering, “You wanted to talk to her, right? That’s why you joined the Cleaners last night, and why you almost shouted at Miss Morgan this morning.”

Lucas stared at him; he didn’t realize he’d been so obvious. “Turns out I can’t even do that,” he placed the ice pack on the table, “I just panicked and said I wanted private training lessons to catch up.”

Nate chewed his chips thoughtfully, “You know, Katie said that sometimes when we panic, we end up saying what we really want to.”

Lucas returned the ice pack to the freezer, “I did not want her to beat me up, Nate.”

“No,” Nate said, “But you did want to spend more time with her.” He checked his watch, “And you’re in luck because training starts in five minutes, come on,” he stood up and threw away his food wrappers in the trash bin.

Lucas thought for a moment, it was true that he wanted to spend time with Natasha, and he knew that she would most likely agree if it was for training. Maybe Katie was on to something, her expertise was in human behavior after all.

“Lucas!” Nate was already at the door, “We’re gonna be late for real!” he ran out, Lucas followed.

“Today we will focus more on the specifics of combat,” Natasha began. 

Apart from her, there were fifteen of them in the training room. 

“It’s time you learn about the Prediction,” she continued. “Not all field agents have it, and the only way to find out if you do is through training.”

They were standing in two lines; Lucas was in the first row between Katie and Nate. 

Natasha was walking up and down their rows while she explained, “Having the Prediction means you would be able to predict an enemy’s attacks a few seconds before they move. Its accuracy would depend on the degree of your skills, so I advise that you train yourselves to be observant in everyday situations.”

Lucas knew that Natasha was skilled at using her Prediction, that’s why she was often sent out on missions where there was a high chance of combat. He had wondered several times before if he had it, but he was really more of a Codebreaker than a Predictor.

“It’s not seeing the future,” Natasha continued, “It’s being able to see data and process them fast enough to know the results. That’s why being observant is the first step to being good at Predicting,” she stopped in front of them. “You will be divided into groups; continue practicing the fighting techniques and focus on speed and accuracy. Sparring will begin after twenty minutes.”

The new recruits glanced around nervously, most of them hadn’t heard of Prediction, and they didn’t think they would be expected to test it out immediately.

Natasha told the older agents to be in charge of grouping the new recruits. Nate took one group, Katie another, and Robert Simmons the third group. 

There were five members in each group; Lucas was in Rob’s. Even though Lucas is also technically an old agent, Rob was the one with experience in the field so they decided he should lead their practice.

Rob did a few drills with them on the basic strikes and blocks, saying it was important to learn the basics to know how to modify them as necessary. They only had twenty minutes to practice, so Rob sparred with each of them in turn for two minutes at most. 

Seeing the new recruits spar, Lucas felt embarrassed for himself by how he kept falling to the ground earlier that morning. It’s a good thing he asked for those private lessons after all.

When it was his turn to spar with Rob, he could feel the new recruits staring at him. They knew he was an old agent and they were looking at him expectantly.

“Nice to have you back, Agent Knight,” smiled agent Rob as he shifted into a fighting stance. 

“Yeah, it’s nice to be back and suddenly have to spar with a field agent,” he replied, changing his stance and preparing to get beat up again.

“Don’t be so tense,” said Rob, “Your muscles will get stiff and it’ll be harder to move. And remember the blocks and counters,” he stepped forward and threw a right hook. Lucas managed to block with his left arm but almost tripped on his own feet trying to sidestep. 

“Good,” Rob said encouragingly, “You managed to block that in time, just need to work on your footwork.”

Rob gave a front kick, Lucas jumped back instinctively and tried to kick him back. Rob dodged and kicked him on his side. 

“Practice sidestepping instead of jumping back,” Rob said. “I dodged your kick easily because you were too far away.” 

That went on for about a minute, with Rob throwing kicks and punches and Lucas barely avoiding them. Lucas was out of breath by the end; Rob said he needed to do more stamina exercises but did a good job staying on his feet.

While Rob was sparring with a new recruit, Lucas looked at the other groups. Nate was the only other agent with them that had Prediction, and he seemed to be telling his group how to properly channel it and what it would feel like. The members of Katie’s group were paired up against each other and she was supervising their sparring.

Natasha was standing quietly to one side with her arms crossed and observing all of them. They made eye contact for a second but Natasha immediately looked away.

The twenty minutes passed and Natasha called their attention to gather at the center again, “You will be paired at random and spar for two minutes each. Thompson and Reyes, you’re up first. Everybody else go to the sides.”

Erica Thompson and Michael Reyes were left in the center; they walked cautiously and circled each other. Michael lunged forward and jabbed, Erica nimbly jumped to the side and kicked Michael’s stomach. Michael grunted and twisted to the side to face Erica again. He feinted a punch to the right but kicked Erica’s leg instead, almost knocking her off balance.

There was no clear winner after their two minutes were up, and Natasha immediately called the next pair. Lucas got called on the fourth set. He was paired with a new recruit named Jake Walters who threw strong punches, but fortunately Lucas moved faster and managed to block and avoid most of them.

By the end, no one really stood out. Nate was still the only one who could Predict attacks, and he was noticeably going easy on the others. Natasha seemed like she was expecting it. 

“All of you did well enough, at least you’re confident you can stay alive for two minutes,” she said after everyone was done sparring. “Today wasn’t about finding out if you can Predict, it’s to see how you would react with the knowledge that perhaps your opponent can.”

She looked at their sweaty faces, “Most of you used a lot of strength immediately, focusing on power, but not all combat situations are limited to two minutes. Being good on the field requires knowing when to attack and when to wait and conserve energy. Fighting is also thinking, remember that. Dismissed.”

The new recruits dispersed and talked among themselves. Rob went up to Natasha, “This reminds me of when we were the new ones,” he looked at the agents that were going out the door, “I never did learn how to Predict.”

“And yet you often won at sparring,” Natasha replied mildly. 

Rob laughed, “The secret is to be unpredictable,” he drank from his water tumbler. “I’m gonna go take a break, those new agents could pack a punch,” he raised a hand goodbye to the other agents and left.

Natasha looked around and noticed that only Nate, Katie, and Lucas were in the room with her. “I’m going to look through the Cell Air case,” she said without looking at them and quickly left. 

Lucas frowned, “I thought that case was closed last year?” he asked the two agents. 

“It was,” Katie said, “But two months ago we found a link between that and Redwood Grove while we were investigating Carmichael. Miss Morgan thought it might be worth another look, especially since a lot of missions seemed to be going wrong lately,” she added quietly.

Nate nodded, “It started about five months ago. We didn’t notice at first; it’s only natural to have mishaps on missions, but it kept happening. Soon enough cases stayed open almost twice as long as they normally would; some agents had to work two cases at once. That’s why we’re too spread out now, we still haven’t caught up with the workload.”

“Natasha said that earlier was her only free time for the day,” Lucas remembered, “How many cases is she working on?”

“I’m not sure,” Katie admitted, “She’s been working closely with Miss Morgan but I don’t know which cases she’s involved in.”

If Natasha’s mindset towards work was still the same as it was before he left—and it did seem like it—Lucas knew he had to do something. He was going to talk to Miss Morgan.

Natasha was printing out files when Katie came up to her, “Find anything yet?”

“Yeah,” Natasha replied, “And I don’t like it,” she looked troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.

“You remember the link we found between this case and Carmichael’s?” Natasha asked her.

“Benjamin Young,” Katie recalled, “One of the jurors in Jeremy Nolan’s trial and a shareholder in Redwood Grove.”

“Look at this,” Natasha spread out the files on the table, “We retraced our steps and found out that Young had an argument with Nolan two weeks before he was arrested. One employee at Cell Air overheard Young threaten Nolan that if he doesn’t agree to Young’s conditions, he’s gonna regret it.”

“I didn’t know Young and Nolan knew each other,” Katie frowned.

“Neither did we. But last week Agent Simmons was re-watching the surveillance footage around Cell Air in the month of Nolan’s arrest, that’s when he saw them arguing. They were near the back of the shop and easy to miss if you weren’t specifically looking for them.” 

Natasha played the footage on her computer; it showed the two men but they were too far away from the camera for their conversation to be audible. 

“That is the manager,” Natasha pointed to the woman arranging the shelves near Young and Nolan. “Rob interviewed her and she said that they had been arguing but she didn’t think it was important because it wasn’t uncommon for Nolan to argue with customers and would-be investors.”

“But two weeks after that particular argument, evidence was found just lying in Nolan’s garage,” Katie said.

“And it can’t be a coincidence that Benjamin Young was one of the jurors,” Natasha replied.

“How was he even allowed to be one? If he knew the suspect that’s a conflict of interest,” Katie said.

“Exactly,” Natasha agreed, “We need to investigate more about him, and the facts involved in Nolan’s arrest.”

Katie nodded, “What do we have to do?”

“Until we have enough information, we can’t do anything. On paper he still looks guilty; all we have is a hunch at most,” Natasha looked tired, she massaged the back of her neck. “We might be in a lot of trouble if we don’t figure this out soon,” she muttered almost to herself.

“Yeah,” Katie agreed, “If we jailed the wrong person that means the real criminal is still out there.”

Natasha shook her head, “It’s not just that. The Nolans aren’t just wealthy, they also have connections to the government and the military. If they think we helped frame their son…” she looked at Katie.

“They might be the ones sabotaging our missions,” Katie realized horribly.


	4. “They Need Our Help, Don’t They?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their investigations lead them to an engagement party of two royals to be wed for an alliance. Natasha senses it could be a trap, but it’s their only lead and they can’t let a certain criminal get away again. 
> 
> Lucas tries to be helpful but Natasha doesn’t seem too happy that he’s included in the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,818
> 
> Includes: angst, villain, royalty

**(I arranged the moodboard but only the middle photo is mine. The rest of the photos are from Pinterest.)**

Katie had left an hour ago—she was in charge of training the new agents in reading human behavior—and Natasha was alone in browsing through the files. She was making a list of all the people involved in putting together the jury when someone approached her desk, “Are these the Cell Air files?” Lucas asked.

“Yes,” she replied, “Mainly about the evidence found and the people in the jury.” She noticed that she was tapping her pen on the desk and stopped herself.

“They have to be checked again, right?” Lucas picked up the folder on the top of the stack and opened it.

“Yeah,” Natasha answered curtly and looked back at her computer screen.

She looked up again when she noticed Lucas had picked up most of the folders from the stack.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Checking,” Lucas held up the folders and left.

Natasha didn’t know if Lucas was even allowed to see those files, and being in charge of the case she knew that she should ask him and confirm if he had been granted access, but the thought of speaking with him alone made her hesitate. She didn’t even know how she’s supposed to give him private training lessons.

She glimpsed Katie’s red hair down the hall and knew that she only had seconds before those green eyes of hers did their x-ray vision magic on her. Katie was as good at reading people’s facial expressions as much as Natasha was good at predicting attacks, making it near impossible to lie to her. 

“Didn’t you have more of those?” Katie asked when she reached Natasha’s desk, pointing to the noticeably smaller stack of folders.

“Lucas took them,” Natasha answered evenly. 

“That’s what he was carrying?” Katie asked surprised, pointing to the hallway where she just saw Lucas. “He is good with patterns,” she considered, “Maybe he’ll find something.”

“Maybe,” Natasha tried to maintain an impassive expression. 

There was a pause where Natasha could almost feel Katie’s eyes reading data off her face, “Nate told me that Lucas asked Miss Morgan if he could help on this case.”

“And Lucas didn’t think to inform me of that before he snatched my folders,” Natasha was making an effort to focus on the aspects of the case, because otherwise it would sink in that Lucas had been trying to get close to her ever since he came back, and she didn’t want to deal with that yet. She didn’t want to admit that despite not being able to relax while he’s in the room, she was glad he’s back.

Katie smiled, “So are you guys friends again?” she pointed her pen at Natasha and to the direction where Lucas went.

Natasha took a moment to answer, “Does it matter?”

“To you? Definitely,” Katie replied, with that familiar smug look on her face that said she could read you like an open book.

Natasha looked away from her and turned her eyes to the computer screen again even though she couldn’t understand what was on there anymore. “Make yourself useful and read these instead of my face,” she pushed the remaining folders towards Katie.

Katie chuckled and pulled up a chair, opening a folder, “This must be a big one if Miss Morgan had Lucas and Nate helping now too.”

Natasha frowned, “Even Nate’s on this case?” They didn’t usually have so many agents just to reinvestigate a case.

Katie nodded, “He and Lucas just got assigned today, so now there are five of us including Rob.” Her phone suddenly rang, “Ah, speak of the Robert,” she said looking at the screen. “Agent Lee speaking,” she answered. Her face turned serious as she listened to Rob, “When?” 

Natasha looked at her when she heard the concern in her voice. “Got it, I’ll tell her. Thanks, Rob,” Katie hung up. “It’s Benjamin Young,” she said to Natasha.

“What happened?” Natasha felt uneasy. Rob was in charge of bringing in Benjamin Young for questioning; the warrant was just approved this morning and he had gone to get Young. 

“Rob didn’t find him,” Katie said worriedly, “He disappeared.”

“Young’s gone,” Natasha said immediately after barging into Miss Morgan’s office. “According to intel, he left the country but we don’t know where he’s planning to go.”

Miss Morgan held up a hand, she was at her desk listening to someone on the telephone, “Thank you for letting us know, I will get back to you at the soonest possible time,” she put down the phone and looked at Natasha. “That was our headquarters in Anglona, Prince Lorenzo Vaughn is announcing his engagement to Princess Karissa Livingston next month. Important members of both royal families will be in attendance, as well as their ambassadors.”

Prince Lorenzo was heir to the throne of Anglona, and they had been strengthening their alliance with Caspontia for years, so it’s no surprise that they would seal that alliance with a marriage, but Natasha didn’t understand why Miss Morgan thought it relevant to bring up now.

“Ma’am,” Natasha began, “Benjamin Young has fled the country, we don’t know where he is,” she repeated as politely as she could manage.

“And two days ago, Anglona’s ambassador resigned; his replacement is on his way now, from this country,” Miss Morgan looeked at her.

“Benjamin Young,” Natasha understood.

“Nothing’s certain yet,” Miss Morgan clasped her hands on the desk. “Our agents in the palace have confirmed that an Adrian Davenport would be the one replacing the previous ambassador. We don’t know what he looks like, but they will send us photos when Davenport arrives.”

Natasha could only think of one reason why the Anglona headquarters would be telling them all this, “They need our help, don’t they?” she realized with dread. Their divisions only contacted each other for help on exceptionally difficult cases; keeping one country in check was hard enough. “And why do they think Adrian Davenport is Benjamin Young?”

Miss Morgan gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk, “Have a seat, Agent Rivers.”

Natasha sat; she didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“When you told me that Young is both in the Redwood Grove and Cell Air cases, I had a feeling that we must proceed with a sense of urgency,” Miss Morgan explained. “I sent the Anglona headquarters Young’s profile and asked if they knew anything about him. I wasn’t expecting any significant results, I just wanted to be sure,” she typed something on her laptop. “But less than 24 hours later, they had sent back this,” she turned her laptop to face Natasha.

It was the profile of an arms dealer named Tomas Fry based in Anglona, it said he had died three years ago in a police chase. The picture was of a man with a thick beard, but there was no mistaking it.

“He faked his death three years ago in Anglona,” Natasha said, reading over the profile.

“And now Adrian Davenport is on his way to that same country, having bought his plane ticket using the same bank account where Benjamin Young receives his shares from Redwood Grove,” Miss Morgan said.

“If he was in a hurry to leave the country, he might not have had time to cover his tracks,” Natasha was trying to picture it in her mind, trying to think like the enemy. “But why would Tomas Fry return to Anglona after his efforts to escape it?” she looked at Miss Morgan.

“That’s what we need to find out,” Miss Morgan replied, “and why your team needs to attend that engagement party. The agents at Anglona are in charge of keeping the royal family safe; your team’s task is to capture Tomas Fry.”

Natasha wasn’t surprised, they had often worked together with the agents at Anglona. “Which agents would be on my team?” she asked.

“I thought it best that the team be composed of the agents already working on the Cell Air case, you’re the ones who know the most about Tomas Fry as Benjamin Young,” Miss Morgan answered, “And S.P.A.D.E. Anglona has requested the presence of Agent Knight. Apart from you, he’s the one they are most acquainted with because of his stay there for the past year. They want to be surrounded with people they can trust; I fear this Tomas Fry is making them anxious, and I can hardly blame them,” Miss Morgan said. 

Natasha was preparing notes for their mission next month when Lucas set down a stack of folders on her desk.

“Records on Tomas Fry, Benjamin Young, and William Robinson, the previous ambassador of Anglona,” Lucas announced.

“I thought you preferred analyzing digital files?” she asked, looking up from her notes.

“But it’s easier for you to look at printed copies so you can examine multiple pages at once. And if I wanna help you, I should get used to it too,” Lucas said.

“I didn’t ask for your help,” she said, more bluntly than she had intended.

“And I didn’t ask for your permission,” Lucas replied simply and went back to his own desk in the next department, carrying half of the folders he just brought. 

Natasha wasn’t sure whether to feel offended or impressed. She decided to not show any emotion since Katie was just a few feet away sitting at her own desk, and they’ve been friends for long enough that she could tell Katie was about to say something.

“He’s really trying,” commented Katie.

 _I knew it,_ Natasha thought wearily. “Good,” Natasha said without looking at her, “That’s his job as an analyst.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t care what you mean.”

“You know I can tell you’re lying, right?”

“I will kick you off this case,” Natasha finally looked at Katie to glare at her.

“For being good at what I do?” Katie had the nerve to smile, “Good luck finding someone better than me for interrogation.”

“Why are you being like this?” Natasha was getting annoyed and turned her chair to face Katie.

“Why are _you_ being like this?” she shot back, the smirk still on her face. “Lucas is clearly making an effort to patch things up and you’re being colder than this Frappuccino,” she took a sip of her beverage.

“Because I don’t know what his intentions are,” Natasha said, almost gritting her teeth. “Maybe you can tell me, since you’re so bloody good at what you do.”

“I can’t read minds, Natasha. But from what I _see_ , Lucas is genuinely trying to be better,” Katie said in a more serious tone. “He’s taking the field training seriously, working as analyst on multiple cases, and just now he talked back to you even with your scary face on,” she pointed at Natasha with her metal straw. “Which I might add takes a special kind of bravery,” Katie leaned back in her chair.

“He left, Katie,” Natasha said in a calmer voice. Katie fell silent. “He left and stopped talking to me for almost two years,” Natasha continued. “And now he’s back and acting as if nothing happened. How do I know he’s not just gonna leave again when our bosses…” her voice caught in her throat; she took a breath and looked down at her desk.

“Miss Morgan isn’t like that,” Katie said gently, “you of all people should know. And maybe Lucas did come back to try to fix things. You know, with you.”

“How would I know what he’s trying to do?” Natasha said quietly, remembering the times she felt in the dark because Lucas wasn’t the type to explain things. “It’s not like he ever says anything.” 

“Maybe you should ask him,” Katie said slowly.

Natasha looked at her.

“Just an idea,” Katie shrugged and straightened up the things on her desk.

Two hours later, Natasha was briefing her team in the meeting room about their next mission. Nate and Lucas were sitting beside each other on one side of the table, Katie was across from Nate and Rob was beside her.

“The engagement party would take place at the Vaughn Royal Palace on July 22nd,” she was standing in front of a whiteboard with the printed profiles of Tomas Fry’s different identities. Several photos of Anglona—specifically areas surrounding the palace—were also on the board along with pictures of the important attendees.

“Intel has confirmed that Adrian Davenport is the man we know as Benjamin Young,” she pointed to the picture that S.P.A.D.E. Anglona sent, it showed a man in a formal suit shaking hands with Prince Lorenzo Vaughn.

“He didn’t even try to disguise himself,” Rob said, “but he must know we’d be looking for him.”

“Yes,” Natasha said, “Which is why we can’t rule out the possibility that he _wants_ us to find him. You’re the one who’s been interviewing people for the Cell Air case,” she said to Rob, “It’s possible he knows what you look like.”

“I can’t be seen in the palace,” Rob nodded, “So I won’t be at the Front and I won’t be a Runner,” he guessed.

“You would be Surveillance,” Natasha pointed at the picture of the palace, “Your base would be this tower on the north side. The agents there are in charge of Scouting the palace, and they would secure that tower. Lucas and Nate would be the Runners, and Katie and I would be at the Front.”

“Nice, I love being a Runner,” Nate turned to Katie, “And we did a good job last time with Carmichael too.”

“That we did,” Katie replied and they high-fived across the table.

Runners are mainly the ones who chase after the targets if they try to escape; they are also reinforcements if there is a combat situation. Nate and Katie make a good team because of Nate’s Prediction and how well Katie could read people, a target would have to try very hard to escape them. Lucas knew it too.

“Why don’t I switch places with Katie?” Lucas suggested, “Nate is more used to working with her, and Katie can run a lot faster than I can.”

Natasha lightly shook her head, “It would be your first time on the field, it’s too dangerous to put you at the Front,” she didn’t mention that she’s not sure how much she could concentrate if Lucas were to be by her side for most of the mission. “And don’t worry about the physical requirements of being a Runner, I’d be training you, remember?” even though she still wasn’t entirely comfortable with that thought, she wasn’t dreading it as much.

Lucas blinked, “Yeah, okay.” He cleared his throat and pointed at the other photos on the board, “So who are those people?”

Natasha turned to the board, “Members of the royal families,” she pointed at a particular one, “These are Princess Karissa Livingston’s parents, they would be accompanying her along with their envoy,”—she moved to the next photo—“Nadine Turner.”

“Our agents there have coordinated with the Livingstons and they were warned of the possible threat that Fry might bring. They agreed to cooperate on the condition that we keep things unknown from the public and have the situation under control throughout the entire party,” Natasha said.

“Didn’t they warn the Vaughns too?” Katie asked.

“Tomas Fry might have spies in the palace,” Natasha replied, “And we don’t know what Fry has told the royal family and why they trust him to be their ambassador,” she sat down at the head of the table. “It would also be easier to find out what Fry is planning to do if the Vaughns are unaware of it. They’re not agents like us; they might not be able to effectively pretend to trust Fry if they knew who he really is. In this case, it’s important to let Fry think that we still have no idea where he is.”

Natasha leaned forward in her chair and rested her elbows on the table, “The Livingstons have agreed that Prince Lorenzo’s safety should be a priority, as well as Princess Karissa’s. The Princess would not be arriving at the palace at the scheduled time, instead she would be at a safehouse nearby protected by the royal guards. She and Prince Lorenzo had never seen each other before, so the Prince would not know the difference whether it’s the Princess he meets in the morning or a S.P.A.D.E. agent.”

“Wait,” Katie frowned, “They’re getting married even though they’ve never met before?”

“Yes,” Natasha nodded, “The purpose of their marriage is to seal the alliance between their countries, meeting each other beforehand didn’t seem necessary for their families,” she shrugged.

“Politics, man,” Nate shook his head disapprovingly.

“You said you and Katie would be at the Front,” Lucas said suddenly, “You mean…”

“Yes,” Natasha said again, “I would be impersonating Princess Karissa Livingston.”


	5. “Shut Up, Knight!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas notices Natasha’s overworking tendencies and tries to help out, then he sees something that gives him a little bit of hope about them. 
> 
> Sparring sessions continue and one of the new agents seems to have a temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,000
> 
> Includes: fluff, flashback, coffee, codes, obstacle course, sparring, falling unconscious, angry Agent Rivers

  
  


****(I arranged the moodboard but only the middle photo is mine. The rest of the photos are from Pinterest.)****

Lucas arrived an hour early at HQ; he wanted to get some work done before his training with Natasha. Some of the cases he’d been analyzing had been transferred to other agents because Miss Morgan wanted them to focus on the Tomas Fry case, and he would have enough time to practice a bit in the training room. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Natasha again.

He was on his way to the training room when he passed near Natasha’s desk and was surprised to see that she was already there; it looked like she fell asleep while working on some notes. 

He thought for a moment, and picked up the empty water bottle and food containers on her desk. As he was putting them in the plastic bag he found, he noticed that Natasha was holding a half-eaten sandwich in her left hand.

He sighed; Natasha had always been like this. He remembered the time when she worked on a case for 14 hours straight without sleep or food. They closed the case shortly after, and Natasha caught a fever but still refused to go home until her shift was done.

He set down the plastic bag on the desk and slowly took the sandwich from her hand. It was near her face because she was also using her left arm as a pillow, so he took it carefully to not wake her up. She was still holding a pen in her right hand, he smiled when he saw the notes she had been writing.

He wrapped the sandwich again and neatly put it down on her desk. Her face looked so calm and he fought the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear. 

He picked up the plastic bag and made his way to the trash bin along the hallway, then he saw Nate.

“Hey, you’re here early,” Nate said, holding a paper bag from the coffee shop near their building.

“I just thought I’d get warmed up before training,” Lucas said, pointing to the direction of the training room.

Nate noticed the transparent plastic bag he was holding, “Was that Natasha’s dinner?” he pointed to the fast food logo just visible through the bag. “I went with Katie last night when she bought their food and I know that’s what Natasha ordered,” Nate continued when Lucas looked like he was going to deny it. 

Lucas tried anyway, “I bought this for myself this morning, for breakfast.” He quickly threw the bag into the bin.

“That place doesn’t open until 10 am, but nice try anyway, Agent Knight,” Nate said mockingly.

Lucas wasn’t prepared to be called out by Nate so early in the morning; he decided to retaliate, “Why are _you_ here early? And where are you going? Your desk is in the other direction,” he pointed to the other side of the hallway.

Nate’s grin melted off.

“And you don’t even like coffee,” Lucas pointed to the paper bag Nate was holding. “But Katie does,” he copied Nate’s mocking tone.

Nate blushed, “Don’t you have some warming up to do?” He pushed past Lucas and put down the paper bag on Katie’s desk near Natasha’s, then hurriedly started walking away.

“Aren’t you gonna ask if _I_ want coffee?” Lucas called after him.

“Shut up, Knight!” Nate shouted without looking back. 

“Lucas?” a voice said behind him.

He turned around and saw Natasha standing there, her voice still sounded sleepy and her hair was a mess. Lucas thought she looked even cuter now than she did earlier, but he didn’t want to get punched in the face so he kept that observation to himself.

“Hi,” he said instead.

Natasha looked at her watch. “You’re early,” she observed, brushing her fingers through her hair.

“Yeah I was just…” Lucas felt like he was caught off-guard even though they were both just standing in the hallway. “I’m mostly done with my paperwork, and I thought I’d go to the training room to practice a bit.” 

Natasha nodded, “Okay. What were you and Nate shouting about?” she asked curiously. Their joking around must’ve been what woke her up.

“Oh that—that was nothing,” he wasn’t about to tell her that he was getting back at Nate for always teasing him about her. “We were just messing around. So how’s the planning for the Tomas Fry case?” he changed the subject.

“We have to hold another team meeting to finalize things, but I already finished my notes,” Natasha said.

Lucas couldn’t help his smile.

Natasha noticed it, “Which makes you happy, apparently.”

“Uh yes, because…” _Because you’re still using our code,_ he noticed it when he saw her notes earlier.

She always made her personal notes in code so no one else would understand them. Except for Lucas, because they created that code together back then.

“…because this is my first field assignment and I’m excited to go,” Lucas tried to sound convincing.

“That reminds me,” Natasha said, “You have to focus more on your training now, we all do. Aside from strategizing we have to be physically ready for the mission and whatever emergencies might happen.”

“Of course, I’ll start right now,” he smiled and jogged to the training room.

Lucas knew that he had to work on his stamina; he started to do some drills on the punching bag to practice his punches as well. He had hand wraps on but he could feel the strain on his wrists after about five minutes; he didn’t want to injure himself even before the mission so he stopped on the punching bag and ran laps around the room.

While running, his thoughts wandered again to Natasha’s notes; those few scribbles of sentences gave him more hope than he would’ve thought possible. The notes themselves were about their rendezvous points around the palace, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

Ever since he got back, he had been afraid that he would never be able to fix things with Natasha. She had acted cold and dismissive. She never spoke to him unless it was about work, and her answers were always clipped and guarded. That’s why he was having a hard time bringing up the conversation that he really wanted to have.

He’d been telling himself that the mission should be their first priority, their main focus. He would just wait for the right time. But admittedly, he was afraid of how Natasha would react. What if she tells him that it’s too late? What if she doesn’t care about him anymore?

Lucas broke into a sprint to shake off his negative thoughts. He reminded himself that if Natasha was still using the code they created together, then maybe she still wanted him to be a part of her life. It wasn’t much to hold on to, but it was all he had.

He still remembered how they came up with that code. Natasha just arrived from a mission with an encrypted notebook she retrieved from a drug dealer; it contained locations of drop zones and names of suppliers.

She dropped the notebook on his desk, “There you go, fresh from the sweaty hands of a high-class drug dealer.” She smiled her half-smile that she always did after a mission well done, with that proud and playful glint in her eye.

“You’ve been holding that sweaty notebook this entire time?” Lucas looked at her and pretended to be disgusted.

“That’s right,” she nodded and wiped her hands on the folder on his desk. 

“Stop that!” Lucas yanked the folder away. Of course there wasn’t really any sweat, they just liked to mess with each other like that.

Natasha laughed and crossed her arms, “I thought you like to digitize files as soon as you receive them?”

“This one is a bit more difficult than the others so I’ve been procrastinating it,” Lucas set down the folder again and opened it.

“Hieroglyphs?” Natasha said in surprise, “Where did that come from?”

“Agent Myles’ team got this from that art curator who was selling stolen paintings,” Lucas answered.

Natasha took a chair from a vacant desk and sat down beside him, “What do they say?” She was looking at the symbols.

“It’s a list of countries where she has contacts who steal paintings for her, but she only has their codenames. Not that easy to spell names today using this system, if she even knows their real names,” Lucas said.

“I wish I had a code,” Natasha said thoughtfully, “Even if I leave notes for classified cases on my desk no one would understand them.”

“Why don’t you make one?” Lucas suggested.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have your talents,” Natasha looked at him pointedly, “And I don’t think I have the time to try and create a code from scratch.”

Lucas thought for a moment, “I’ll help you.”

Natasha looked at him, “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s almost the weekend anyway and most of our cases are closed,” Lucas said, “We can go to Café Zen tomorrow after work and—” he stopped himself as he realized what he was saying. They’ve never spent any time together outside work and he wasn’t sure what Natasha would think of him suddenly asking out of nowhere. “I mean,” he felt his ears getting warm, “I-if you want to, if you don’t have plans or anything,” he was usually comfortable around Natasha but for some reason he felt a little nervous.

Natasha was looking at him with an amused expression, “Okay,” she said lightly. 

He released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Great,” he sounded too enthusiastic to his own ears.

“I have to get back to my desk,” Natasha stood up to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she smiled at him.

“Yeah,” Lucas smiled back. 

He was still seeing Natasha’s smile in his mind and he didn’t notice that he almost ran into her. Fortunately, her reflexes were quick and she moved to the side before they collided.

“Sorry,” Lucas panted, leaning against the wall to stop himself and catch his breath.

Natasha was already in her training clothes, a black fitted shirt and pants, and her hair was in a ponytail. “You can take a 5-minute break before we start,” she said after looking at her watch.

Lucas nodded and took a swig from his water tumbler.

“Slow down,” Natasha said without looking at him, “Water might get in your lungs if you drink a lot immediately after a workout.”

Lucas stopped drinking and set his tumbler down on the bench. “Do you think there’s a high chance of combat happening in our mission at Anglona?”

Natasha turned to look at him, “Are you worried?” she asked as she started putting on her hand wraps.

Yes, he was. As far as he knew it would be the first time they would get involved in an inter-country affair, and with royal families, no less. If something goes wrong, international governments might want to meddle and they would all be caught in a tangled mess. And with Natasha at the very front of the mission, he was worried about what could happen to her.

“It’s your first field assignment, that’s normal,” Natasha said when he didn’t answer. “Everyone on the team is doing their part to prepare for the mission, we won’t be going in blindly. And to answer your question, I’m not sure,” she paused. “But I think it’s best to be prepared for anything,” she tightened the last straps of her hand wraps, “Ready?”

Lucas didn’t embarrass himself as much, partly because he wasn’t panicked like last time and he had an idea of what to expect. They trained for half an hour and mostly focused on his footwork; Natasha said it was important to learn how to move quickly without tripping on himself.

The other agents arrived soon after, and Natasha left Rob and Nate in charge of training, saying she needed to attend to more urgent matters.

“When do we get assigned on the field?” Jake asked after Natasha left.

“Being out on the field is a serious and risky job,” Nate replied, “You’ll get field assignments if you pass the field exam.”

“And all of you still need to undergo training for another month at least before you can take that exam,” Rob added, referring to the new agents. “A lot of other skills are required to be in the field, not just fighting abilities. Today we would focus first on going through an obstacle course.”

Nate approached Lucas as they were all helping set up the course, “How about you, Lucas? Ready to go back to Anglona?”

“I didn’t expect to be going back so soon,” Lucas replied, “And I’m still bad at combat.” He was starting to wonder if he would be ready in time.

“The mission’s still weeks away,” Nate said, “You have plenty of time to train. And besides, we’re teamed up as Runners, I’ll be watching your back.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” said Lucas.

“Hey!” Nate complained.

Rob called their attention and told them all to line up at the start of the obstacle course. They had to go through monkey bars, balance beams, climb up a 10-foot wall and rappel on the other side. Afterwards they were timed on how quickly they could take down and put away all the equipment.

“I can’t wait ‘til we do this course again while Rob shoots us with paintballs,” Nate told Lucas as they were carrying a balance beam to the side of the room.

“You’re kidding, right?” Lucas said. He fell off the balance beam once and barely made it to the top of the wall.

“Haha, no,” Nate replied, “It’s more fun that way. And this is just the beginner’s obstacle course.”

Lucas wasn’t sure if Nate was joking, but he knew that Nate had been a field agent for almost as long as Natasha, and he wouldn’t be surprised if they came up with more difficult ways to train agents.

As the last part of their training for the day, they were going to practice sparring again. Natasha came back just as Nate was explaining the rules, “Each round would last for three minutes this time, and I’m reminding you that while the purpose of sparring is for you to learn how to fight actual enemies, you are all still beginners. Some might not yet be as good as the others. Remember that no good will come of you purposely trying to injure your fellow agents,” he emphasized.

The sparring started and as usual Erica was the only one showing skills of Prediction, but from time to time she seemed to be second-guessing herself and she would get hit or thrown off-balance.

“Agent Thompson,” Natasha said when Erica’s round was done, “Are you ignoring your Prediction instincts?”

Erica hesitated before answering, “I thought I could think of better attacks to do because I had an idea of what was about to happen.”

Natasha lightly shook her head and addressed all of them, “Never ignore your Predictions, they are the result of your mind processing data fast enough to show you the most accurate outcome possible. In combat you have to be quick, and having second thoughts about your Prediction could cost you your life.” 

They proceeded with sparring and eventually it was Lucas’ turn; he was partnered up with Jake again. After about a minute, Jake hit him hard in the stomach and he doubled over, Jake took that opportunity and landed a second punch to his face. He fell to the floor and saw the blood dripping from his split lip.

“Agent Walters, that’s enough,” he heard Nate’s voice say.

Jake didn’t seem to hear anything and picked up Lucas by his shirt, with his other fist he seemed to be aiming another punch. Lucas felt lightheaded and couldn’t think of what to do.

“Agent Walters,” Natasha didn’t shout, but her voice was heard clearly by all of them. Jake’s fist stopped and he let go of Lucas. He looked over Jake’s shoulder and saw that Natasha had walked over to them without either of them noticing.

Natasha’s face remained impassive but there was a frightening air about her, like how the atmosphere feels right before a thunderstorm. “Were you not listening when Agent Dalton was explaining earlier?” she spoke quietly but everyone had gone so silent that her voice could be heard across the room.

“If you didn’t want me to hurt other agents then you should have paired me with someone who can actually fight,” Jake replied brashly, “I’m ready for the field and I shouldn’t be wasting my skills on weaklings like him!” he jerked his head toward Lucas.

The other agents looked at each other nervously; Rob and Nate exchanged glances. Katie was standing beside them and looking at Natasha.

Lucas’ lip was still bleeding, but seeing Natasha now, he felt terrified for Jake.

“Agent Knight, join the other agents,” Natasha told him. He promptly walked over to where Nate and the others were standing.

“You think you’re skilled enough for the field,” Natasha said to Jake. She raised her fists, “Let’s see it, then.”

Jake hesitated a moment but scowled and assumed his fighting stance. He immediately attempted a punch at Natasha’s face, she sidestepped easily and jabbed him in the ribs.

The entire room seemed to be holding its breath.

Jake quickly recovered and lunged at Natasha, she jumped to the side and kicked him in the stomach. She punched him in the jaw while he was gasping for breath and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. He stopped moving.

Natasha looked around at the other agents, “Anybody else feel confident that they’re ready for the field?”

Some agents instinctively took a step back, some were looking at the floor, others were staring wide-eyed at Jake’s unmoving body.

“Somebody bring Agent Walters to the infirmary,” Natasha said. “That concludes our training for today. Dismissed.” 


End file.
